Re: Summer 2018 transfers and rumours

Well Shady this will give you some cheer. He has shades of Jack Lester about him. Puts himself about. Tireless worker and can score goals. The question is will he actually get the ball passed to him or will he have to get it himself and be too knackered after doing so to actually score. The player from what I have seen will do well in the higher leagues. If we don't get him I could imagine a Leeds type team snapping him up. (luckily for us they are just as mental as our lot).

Chicago: Talent scout.

If running is bad for your knees try hanging out with Russ and Tricky for a night.

Re: Summer 2018 transfers and rumours

If we are going to sign anyone this summer, they're going to need to have some pace. Brentford were quicker than us all over the pitch.

I didn't think they were much quicker than us. BB was torching them for speed but lacking the finishing product. He got through to the edge of the box running in for a one on one and then inexplicably cut back (Kranky probably told him to defend the ball (sic).

Lolley and BB are fast. So are Mckay, Cash and Walker. Whether they will actually get a forward ball into channels is another thing altogether.

Chicago: Channel spotter.

If running is bad for your knees try hanging out with Russ and Tricky for a night.

Re: Summer 2018 transfers and rumours

I didn't think they were much quicker than us. BB was torching them for speed but lacking the finishing product. He got through to the edge of the box running in for a one on one and then inexplicably cut back (Kranky probably told him to defend the ball (sic).

Lolley and BB are fast. So are Mckay, Cash and Walker. Whether they will actually get a forward ball into channels is another thing altogether.

Chicago: Channel spotter.

None of those players are slow but none of them are exceptionally quick in the way of a Nathan Tyson, Franz Carr or Des Walker. Those were players who, in an even race you'd expect to always get to the ball first and, most times, to make up a couple of yards over 10. All the players you list are as quick as a normal modern professional footballer.

Re: Summer 2018 transfers and rumours

I'd honestly give Karanka a mulligan for the last couple of months - it's very difficult to change the tyres on a moving car. I want to see what our transfer policy looks like when it's being executed with the benefit of time and knowledge of the existing squad; I've absolutely no idea what we do next.

This summer, the following players are out of contract:

FuentesDejagahVaughanCohenHobbs

I can't see any of them being offered new terms, and frankly I'd expect at least two of them to retire.

We also lose the following loan players:

TomlinColbackDowellPantilimonFigueiredo

I can see us having interest in the last two; Tomlin has been useful and he's out of contract so we could probably keep him if we wanted to, but I'm not entirely convinced we do.

There's a lot of talk about our bloated squad as a result of the January spending spree, but as we can see the big problem wasn't created by Karanka - he inherited it. We've got so much complete sh!t to get rid of, especially in midfield.

Re: Summer 2018 transfers and rumours

Yes, in hindsight it was very sensible sacking Warburton because he didn't want to buy any more sh!t. That way we were able to stock up on sh!t ahead of the summer window, and take the pressure off needing all the sh!t then.

Re: Summer 2018 transfers and rumours

It's a fair point you make. Thank Christ Karanka added clear value to the squad with his purchases in January.

He brought in short term players to fill perceived gaps. It's entirely reasonable to question how good a job he did of that, but the only players we're left with from the January transfer activity after the end of the season are Lolley, Watson and Guedioura, and I think the only one that hasn't worked out so well there is Geddy who was clearly just brought in to make Chicago happy.

Yes, in hindsight it was very sensible sacking Warburton because he didn't want to buy any more sh!t. That way we were able to stock up on sh!t ahead of the summer window, and take the pressure off needing all the sh!t then.

We sacked Warburton because he bought sh!t that was once not sh!t but is now, or sh!t that is unlikely to ever be anything but sh!t, or sh!t that might not have been sh!t until he made them sh!t.

Now we've got a lot of sh!t that we need to get rid of. Some of it he inherited, some of it he bought, and some of it he created. With a bit of luck we can un-sh!t some of his sh!t, but most of it we'll need to make someone else's sh!t so we can buy some players who will hopefully be not sh!t.

Re: Summer 2018 transfers and rumours

....Now we've got a lot of sh!t that we need to get rid of. Some of it he inherited, some of it he bought, and some of it he created. With a bit of luck we can un-sh!t some of his sh!t, but most of it we'll need to make someone else's sh!t so we can buy some players who will hopefully be not sh!t.

The big problem with buying players who are not sh!t, is that we will be competing with other teams who are ahead oof us (existing not sh!t, bigger budgets). Also sh!t, or not sh!t, is slightly dependent on the way the manager sees things.

Ideally we would buy players who are not sh!t now, and wont be sh!t when we get the next manager in. Perhaps we could put in place some sort of strategy to work towards this?